PepsiCo recognizes carbon reduction as a strategic imperative and a key tenet of its pep+ (PepsiCo Positive) ambition. Its new facility, the company’s fifth plant in Poland, spanning 54,700m², will dramatically increase the scale of production of its popular potato chips brands. These will be scheduled for 20 European markets, including Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary.
The plant, located in Święte, has been built with sustainability at its core and demonstrates how circular economy principles can be used throughout the entire lifecycle of a snack. The goal is to achieve net zero status by 2035. The plant’s location will reduce transport routes by more than 4.5m km per year, while also boasting several key features to contribute to its sustainable operations, such as low utility consumption and the generation of its own energy via solar panels.
The adoption of anaerobic digestor tech ensures that leftover peelings are used to help power the plant and converted into low-carbon fertiliser for farmers. The facility also uses an electric fleet of company cars with dedicated charging stations. Further investment has been earmarked to introduce an onsite solar farm with wind turbines.
PepsiCo has been operating in Poland for over three decades and currently has four plants in the country, which have contributed to 32,000 jobs across the value chain. The new plant will create 450 jobs to boost the economy in Poland. Silviu Popovici, CEO of PepsiCo Europe, said that Święte was chosen as the location for the climate-smart facility because “Poland is a strategic market with significant development potential,” and “PepsiCo has very good cooperation with the government.”
PepsiCo is looking to expand its Polish farming program to cover 19,000 acres (7,700 hectares) over 80 farms by 2025. The Poland Prime Minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, described the new plant as “excellent evidence that state-of-the-art greenfield projects can be implemented in Poland.”
According to the US Ambassador to Poland, Mark Brzezinski, investors are showing strong interest in PepsiCo’s investment in Poland. He added that foreign investment in the country in 2021-22 reached a record-breaking 110bn PLN ($26.28m). He believes that PepsiCo Poland is an excellent example of shared success in economic growth.
Take a virtual tour of the new plant via the link provided.